


The World Didn't End

by rowofstars



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/M, First Kiss, Hyperion Heights (Once Upon a Time), New Year's Eve, Rumplestiltskin | Mr. Gold as Detective Weaver
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-01
Updated: 2020-01-01
Packaged: 2021-02-26 04:17:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 859
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22063171
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rowofstars/pseuds/rowofstars
Summary: Weaver and Belle find themselves alone in a hospital waiting room on New Year's Eve.
Relationships: Belle/Rumplestiltskin | Mr. Gold
Comments: 20
Kudos: 41





	The World Didn't End

**Author's Note:**

> IDK. I just had to. Happy New Year!

The waiting room was empty when Detective Weaver walked in, save for one exhausted brunette named Belle French.

He crossed the beleaguered beige space to her side, and gave her a tired smile as he held up one of two styrofoam cups full of very average hospital cafeteria coffee.

“Thanks,” she said, her eyes flicking to him briefly before fixing themselves on the TV mounted in the corner of the room where a replay of the Time’s Square ball drop was counting down to midnight on the West Coast. “Any news?”

Weaver shrugged. “He’s out of surgery, but hasn’t been moved to his room. The nurse seemed to think it would be another hour yet. You should get home.”

“I want to wait, if that’s okay with you.” Then she sighed and took a sip of her coffee, pulling a face at it before fixing her eyes back on the screen. “He saved my life.”

Weaver nodded and swallowed against the lump in his throat. “Yeah, he did.”

Her head nodded twice, and then her gaze stayed fixed on the floor. He knew what she was probably thinking, that it could have been her or him as much as it was Detective Rogers. Fortunately, his wound wasn’t life threatening, and the man who had shot him wouldn’t be going anywhere. But it did put things in perspective in a startlingly abrupt way.

When Belle had come to Hyperion Heights as their new Justice Department liaison, she hadn’t been received with open, welcoming arms. Weaver had bristled at the thought of any state or federal oversight of local operations, and her rules and insistent need to always do everything by the book had driven him spare for the first few months.

Ultimately, he was willing to admit he had been wrong about Belle. More than that, he had come to depend on her and respect her, and now that their two year long investigation was finally coming to an end, finding corruption across multiple agencies and city departments, all culminating in a heap of arrests and one non-fatal shooting of a police officer. He found himself already missing the late nights in her office, talking and working over paper plates and take out. 

What he wouldn’t miss was the awkward tension that had been building between them, and the growing desire to see if her lips were as soft as they looked. He supposed some of that was to be expected when two people worked so closely for so long. Feelings were somewhat inevitable in that kind of environment, or so he liked to tell himself. They had vaguely mutually agreed that such things were always a mistake between coworkers, thought he was inclined to think the right people could always make it work. No entanglements, she’d said.

In a few weeks they wouldn’t be working together anymore. Perhaps he would ask her to go for a drink.

Weaver started to smile as he took a long drink of his coffee.

“What are you smiling about?” Belle asked, shooting him a sideways glance.

“Nothing.”

She made a small noise of disbelief as her lips curved. The clock on the wall opposite the TV inched closer to midnight, and she set her coffee on the table next to one of the well worn waiting room chairs. “Almost a new year.”

He sighed. “Yeah. Hope it’s better than the old one.”

She bumped her shoulder against his. “It wasn’t all bad.”

The TV broadcast switched over to a live feed from somewhere in the city. He could hear the crowd in the background, calling out the time as it ticked down.

_10...9…_

“No,” he agreed. “It wasn’t.”

_8...7..._

Belle turned a little, her eyes softening as she gazed up at him.

_6...5…_

He licked at his bottom lip, and caught the slight shift in her expression as her eyes followed the movement.

_4...3…_

She seemed to move closer, and his breath caught.

_2...1…_

Weaver shifted and dipped his head at the same moment she pushed up on her toes, catching his mouth with hers. She tasted like coffee and made the sweetness noise when he pulled away. It was too soft and too short compared to what he really wanted, yet somehow a perfect first kiss.

Belle smiled as she bit her lip. “The world didn’t end.”

He gave a small shake of his head, grinning crookedly. “No, it didn’t.”

Her hand found his, and he gave it a light squeeze, using it to pull her closer so he could kiss her again. This one lingered, long enough for him to know it wasn’t just a one off, we’re here, alone, at midnight kind of thing.

“What happened to no entanglements?” he asked. “Everything by the book?”

Belle shrugged and slid her free hand up over his shoulder to let her fingers play in the hair at the back of his neck. The way she smiled and looked at him said she’d been wanting to do that for a while. 

She pulled him down, her lips brushing against his as she spoke. “The hell with the book.”


End file.
